Stolen Lies (Fates of the Bound 2)

“Yes, I remember.” By law, the prime minister had to meet with oracles from each state, reviewing a list of their grievances and making vows to address each one. Luckily, the women rarely wanted anything more than a quick acceptance of their budget so that they could return home to their compounds and their work. Given her father’s obsession with the women, she could only imagine how those visits had gone this year. “Father, what did you do?”

“Why do you assume that I did something?”

“Because you don’t like the idea of the oracles handling their own business on their own sovereign compounds? Because they’re outside of your purview, and you don’t like that?”

“You make me sound like a meddlesome grandparent.”

Lila shrugged and bit into her pancake.

“I could be a meddlesome grandparent.” His gaze dropped to her belly.

“You have other children for that. Some of them are in the next room. Go bug one of them.” She made a move to stand up, but her father gripped her arm, holding her in place.

“Must you do that every time I mention grandkids?”

“Yes. It’s like training a rather dimwitted puppy. Consistency is—”

“Your sisters and brothers are already at the park, and they’re far too young for this conversation anyway.” He let go of her arm. “Back to the point. The oracles are hiding something. I want to know what.”

“They’re always hiding something,” Lila said, sitting back down. “They’re mysterious and misty and annoyingly full of crap.”

Shaw snorted.

“They’re disappearing,” her father said.

“Everyone knows that.”

“Yes, but no one’s bothered to run the numbers. I had a few data crunchers check the public records. Female relatives of the oracles have had a shockingly high mortality rate in the last few decades. Sisters, nieces, daughters, cousins. It’s twenty times the national average, and they have ten times the chance of being kidnapped.”

“They are oracles, Father. They’re targeted more often, and their illness brings its own complications. Their seizures can’t always be controlled and some of them refuse to take it, claiming it stops their so-called visions. It makes them vulnerable.” Lila sighed, annoyed at what her father would eventually ask. Though the ancient queens might have ridden victoriously into battle, their modern-day kin were little more than state-sponsored con women, or they would be if they didn’t believe their own tripe. Each city retained its own oracle with a compound paid for by the people. Inside, her family and relatives resided like the highborn, the little girls inside waiting for the gods to bless them with the sight.

Or curse them. Gaining the visions meant a lifetime of seizures. The ones not chosen were absorbed into helping roles, running the temples, and assisting with administrative tasks. It took a great deal of time and energy to run a religion.

And money.

Lila privately thought the oracles should be disbanded, but the poorer classes believed that the oracles were the only way to commune with the gods. Even some highborn believed it.

Because of their special status as sovereign nations, the militias couldn’t touch them, nor could the government pass laws against them, not unless every member of the High and Low Houses in Unity agreed on the proposal. In addition, the prime minister and the High and Low Councils of Judges must approve the matter.

Such a majority was nearly impossible to attain.

“If the oracles were really clairvoyant, they wouldn’t lose so many children.”

“Lila, don’t—”

“You and I both know they can’t see a damn thing. They might have had power once, but not anymore.” She raised a brow when her father did not answer. “Don’t tell me that you believe now.”

“I’m privy to their visions, Lila, at least the ones they share. I’m not sure what I believe anymore, but I don’t disbelieve. These women need our help even if they won’t ask for it. I mentioned the statistics, and none of them seemed that concerned. They said they were handling things on their own, teaching their daughters to be more careful, putting them through self-defense courses, rolling out a few health initiatives, and funding extra research.”

“Sounds like excellent first steps.”

“It’s bullshit, Lila.”

She shoved her plate away. Bullstow men rarely cursed, and her father was no exception. “Okay, fine. What exactly do you want me to do?”

“A few days ago, a woman in Sioux Falls witnessed a girl being taken from the local oracle’s compound and shoved into a black Cruz sedan. The woman followed the car, directing the local militia until they could pull it over. They barely got to the little girl in time.”

“What did the kidnapper say?”